“Avatar” wherever you look: the mega blockbuster still dominates the cinema landscape. If you don’t want to see blue creatures in loincloths, you might find something useful between the two new releases this week. This week starts with “M3GAN“ the next US horror sensation in German cinemas, and also German EDM veteran HP Baxxter joins us “FCK 2020 – Two and a half years with a scooter“ absolutely entertaining through the Corona years and with “Holy spider“ a dark serial killer thriller that convinces with its unusual setting.
“M3GAN” – horror hype reaches Germany
“Avatar 2: The Way Of Water” continues to dominate the box office – in the US and around the world. But there is resistance. “M3GAN,” which opened last week in the US, grossed nearly $30.2 million at the box office over the weekend, not only securing a close second place, but also covering production costs at the same time. In comparison: the horror hype ‘Smile’ managed to collect a sensational $ 22 million at the box office during its opening weekend in October 2022.
By the way, this is a special album. For more than a decade, no movie has opened a new calendar year with such high earnings. Most recently, the 2012 horror movie “The devil within“.
This is “M3GAN”
M3GAN is an electronic puppet that almost behaves like a real human being. When Cady’s (Violet McGraw) parents die in an accident, her aunt (Allison Williams), the inventor of M3GAN, comes up with a very special gift for her niece: one of her lifelike dolls will take care of the welfare from now on. of the girl takes care of child. But she takes it a little too seriously with her job of deflecting any damage from Cady. This quickly has deadly consequences…
We too can only advise you to go to the cinema – but don’t expect the horror shock of the year. Editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen came to the following conclusion in his 3.5 star review: “A really fun, grubby little horror satire that convinces more with its caustic, caustic humor than with creepy scenes or even an innovative plot.”
With Scooter through the pandemic
If you don’t like killer dolls in the spirit of “Chucky”, you might have more fun with the scooter documentary “FCK 2020 – Two and a half years with scooter”. Here, viewers experience the two and a half years of the corona pandemic together with HP Baxxter – the frontman of the hardcore legends of “Scooter”. In particular, disaster hog HP Baxxter turns out to be the German Ozzy Ozbourne, who – as befits creative geniuses apparently – stands out with a few odd quirks and idiosyncrasies.
In our Filmstarts review, the entertaining documentary managed to score no less than 4 out of 5 stars. FILMSTARTS editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen comes to the following verdict: There will certainly be many more films about the Corona period. but we can hardly imagine another pandemic chronicle even remotely as entertaining as “FCK 2020 – two and a half years with scooter”.
A serial killer thriller in an unusual setting
In addition, a serial killer thriller will start in German cinemas this week. “Holy Spider” is about the spider killer who brutally murdered at least 16 sex workers in the Iranian city of Mashhad in the early 2000s – to cleanse the city “of the unclean”.
The film is hard-hitting and definitely worth checking out for genre fans, as the thriller by Tehran-raised director Ali Abbasi was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and actress Zar Amir-Ebrahimi was considered for the Best Leading Actress award. .
Story-wise, “Holy Spider” may be reminiscent of classic Hollywood serial killer thrillers, but the offbeat setting alone brings a breath of fresh air to the genre – because the film is not set in a Western city, but in Iran. And here the women not only have to watch out for the serial killer, but are also at the mercy of the police, who sometimes prove to be less help than threat.